


I held back the flood until the sky fell

by Danny_Bex



Series: Born To Make History [1]
Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Major Original Character(s), Minor Original Character(s), N7 (Mass Effect), Original Character Death(s), Original Character(s), Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Paragon Shepard with Renegade tendencies, Pre-Canon, Time Skips
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-12 11:08:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28634505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Danny_Bex/pseuds/Danny_Bex
Summary: Commander Shepard was known throughout the galaxy as the woman who rallied every species, organic and synthetic, to fight and eventually defeat the Reapers. She became a living legend. But what made her this way? How did the Hero of the Skyllian Blitz become the woman who rallied a galaxy?Short glimpses into Shepard's life before the events of the first Mass Effect, following her training in the Alliance Military and in the N7 program. Also details the events of the Skyllian Blitz that earned her the Star of Terra and how she grew into the Commander Shepard that became the first human Spectre.
Relationships: Female Shepard & Hannah Shepard, Female Shepard & Original Character(s)
Series: Born To Make History [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2099604
Comments: 4
Kudos: 2





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! So this is my first fic in the Mass Effect Universe. I've always wanted to write a fic spanning the entirety of my playthrough of the trilogy, but then I thought that I was thinking too small, so here is my Shepard from the first day of Alliance training, all the way to saving the galaxy from the Reapers and beyond.  
> Title is taken from 'Sirens' by Fleurie.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A (very) brief look at Shepard's childhood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! So this is my first fic in the Mass Effect Universe. I've always wanted to write a fic spanning the entirety of my playthrough of the trilogy, but then I thought that I was thinking too small, so here is my Shepard from the first day of Alliance training, all the way to saving the galaxy from the Reapers and beyond.

For as long as Jane Shepard could remember, she’d lived on Alliance starships and stations and travelled through space. With her mother being an Alliance marine, Jane knew no other life than the one she spent in space. She never wanted to know any other. Ever since she was able to think and decide for herself, she wanted to follow in her parent’s footsteps and join the Alliance military.

During her short-lived friendships with children who lived on the colony worlds her mother would spend shore leave on, they’d always tell her how lucky she was to travel through space and see other planets. What Jane never corrected them on was that she only ever got to see a majority of those planets from orbit.

Being an Alliance marine’s daughter was difficult. Jane would sometimes go for long periods of time where the only time she ever saw or spoke to her mother was over comms. Despite being absent for long bouts of time, Hannah Shepard always made the most of the time she had with her daughter. Jane would always ask her mother for stories about her “adventures” when she was gone.

Jane’s fascination with the other alien races that humanity had been introduced to when she was three years of age never dimmed. If she couldn’t be found watching the Alliance soldiers run through drills and sneakily trying on her mother’s armour and running around their small living quarters, she could always be found in the lounge browsing the extranet and learning everything she could on the other civilizations of the Milky Way galaxy. Despite the tension between humanity and the turians due to the events of the First Contact War, Jane would devour any sources of turian history and military doctrine. She was also endlessly fascinated by the blue-skinned asari and their thousand-year life-spans.

The reality of serving in the Alliance military hit when she was sixteen and her mother came back from a tour and refused to speak about what had happened, breaking the long-standing tradition of telling stories of space and Hannah’s “adventures”. Jane could see it on the other soldier’s faces that whatever had happened on that tour was not something that they’d ever be able to erase from their minds. Being the curious girl she was; however, she searched the extranet for information and was only able to find out that batarian slavers had attacked the human colony of Mindoir, resulting in the deaths of many colonists before the Alliance military arrived on the scene. Her resolve to join the Alliance strengthened after that.

For the next two years, Jane spends a majority of her time training and preparing herself to enlist in the Alliance military. Her mother helped in informing her of what to expect during training. She did little else to help her daughter, knowing that Jane wanted to succeed on her own merits and not on whatever reputation or favours her mother is able to secure. The day of her eighteenth birthday, Jane enlisted in the Alliance military.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this short little prologue.  
> Feedback is most appreciated but also please be aware that this is unbeta'd and any editing that's been done I've done myself and have more than likely left a few mistakes (if anyone spots any, please tell me!)


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brief snippets of Shepard's time in basic training.

**2172 CE**

“Fuck!”

“Get up, Shepard! The enemy isn’t going to wait for you to get back on your feet! Move it!” Sergeant Hinds, a well-built man with close-cropped hair, yelled from the other side of the small sparring arena. He watched the two new cadets with a critical eye, a jagged scar pulling at his upper lip, giving him a constant sneer.

The Shepard kid was tough, resilient and stubborn as hell. Hinds let out a small chuckle as Shepard got to her feet and glared at her opponent towering over her. Her short, flame red hair had come loose and hung in strands about her face. She ignored the hair in her face and struck out at her opponent in quick succession, her fists trying to find weak points. The taller cadet took the hits before retaliating, trying to strike at the opening Shepard left in her defense. She seemed to be expecting him to take the opening she left as she swiftly danced out of the way. She grabbed his outstretched arm and using his momentum against him, flipped him onto his back. He hit the ground with a groan. Shepard locked his arm in a hold, only releasing her opponent when he tapped the mat.

“Well done Newham, Shepard. Fall in. Chamber, Fallows, get on the mat!” Sergeant Hinds shouted. “Nice one with that flip.” Newham muttered, rolling his shoulder as he and Shepard stood at ease on the edge of the sparring mat.

“Thanks. Hope I didn’t wrench your arm, too badly.” Shepard whispers, green eyes forward, watching the next match closely with her hands clasped behind her back.

“I’ll live.” Newham chuckles, rolling his shoulder once more before copying the stance of his peers with his own hands clasped behind his back and eyes focused on the fight before him.

* * *

The room rings with the sound of gunfire. Cadets stand side-by-side, assault rifles in hand, taking aim at the targets that hang far in front of them. For a majority of the cadets, fifty percent of their shots hit the outside of the target or the outer ring. Only a few cadets manage to hit the target with every shot, some of those managing to hit the centre a small percentage of the time.

“You ready to scrub the bathrooms when I beat you, Shepard?” Ramirez smiles, taking aim and calmly pulling the trigger, a third of her shots hitting the centre or close to the centre of her target.

“Think again, Ramirez.” Shepard grins. She fires on her target, smiling when most of her shots hit well within the inner rings of her target, with most of them hitting the centre.

The two cadets have a standing friendly rivalry and wager going on between them and neither want to lose to the other. Neither want to be the one to scrub the bathrooms and neither want to admit defeat to the other.

“Cut the chatter and fire on your targets.” Their firing sergeant commands, standing behind the competitive cadets.

The two cadets grin at each other and keep firing, obeying their sergeant’s command and remaining quiet for the rest of the lesson.

* * *

“How the hell did you beat me?” Ramirez asks, setting her tray of food on the table. She slid into her seat across from Shepard. “She’s a spacer kid, remember? Probably spent her whole life learning how to handle weapons.” Newham replies before Shepard is able to answer. He slides into his seat next to Shepard and shoves her good-naturedly.

Shepard shoves him back and continues eating her dinner. She doesn’t mention that she’d never handled a real weapon before their first firing lesson a few days earlier and spent a majority of her time shooting a toy gun. She smiles as Ramirez sticks her tongue out at Newham, digging into her own dinner.

“’Sides, why are you complaining? You and Shepard are top of the class in everything.” Newham looks between the two women with confusion, wondering why they’d be so competitive when they could just work together.

“Doesn’t mean I want to clean up after your dirty asses.” Ramirez says, stabbing at her food. “We’ll split it. I only beat you by one point, so to speak. We can split the chore.” Shepard says, taking another mouthful of her food.

Ramirez looks up from her food, surprise in her eyes, “What?” she asks.

“We’ll split it.” Shepard repeats, “It’ll also go faster with two people and we won’t have to wait hours before we can go pee.” She adds with a cheeky grin.

“You’re a little shit, Shepard.” Ramirez chuckles, shaking her head.

“If you’d rather do it yourself, I won’t stop you.” Shepard says, trying to stifle another smile.

“No, you said we’d split it, no way I’m going to turn that down. You and I are going to scrub those toilets until they shine.” Ramirez says, pointing her fork at Shepard.

“Deal.” Shepard laughs.

* * *

Shepard sits in bed, back propped against the wall behind her, datapad propped on her bent knees, reading about the Turian Unification War. She looks up from her datapad when her bed dips near her feet. Ramirez sits with her legs crossed, looking at Shepard with a glint of mischief in her eyes. “What you reading?” she asks, wagging her eyebrows.

“’A Recounting of the Unification War’ by Caivus Mutilus.” Shepard replies, turning the datapad screen off, knowing that it will likely be a while until she could continue reading.

“You’re reading about the turians? Why?” Ramirez asks, her eyebrows furrowed.

“Their history is interesting. I enjoy reading about it.” Shepard says, preparing herself for the possibility of Ramirez saying something. Whenever she spoke about the turians to other humans, a majority of them would get angry. She had realised that there was still tension from the First Contact War, but she believed that they should try to let go and learn from the past instead of holding onto it. She knew, however, that old wounds never faded but she hoped one day this certain wound could be accepted.

“Really? I thought it might have been something spicier. I thought you might be more interested in the asari. Looks like I must have been wrong.” Ramirez said with a pout.

Shepard tried to suppress the blush creeping up her cheeks at the mention of the beautiful, blue-skinned aliens but wasn’t successful. Ramirez spotted her quickly reddening cheeks and began to grin impishly.

“Oh my god, you do like them!” she exclaimed before devolving into a fit of giggles. “Okay, you have to tell me, I have to know, what is it that you like?” Ramirez lay on her stomach next to Shepard, feet in the air and head propped in her hands, on the very small bed and looked up at her with shining eyes.

Shepard rolled her eyes and sighed, tilting her head back. She cursed her body for betraying her. Ramirez would never let this information go and would likely tease her endlessly. Shepard was brought out of her cursing by Ramirez poking her in the side, her silent glare demanding an answer. Shepard ran her hand through her hair, getting annoyed when her fingers got caught in the knots of her long hair, she was going to cut it as soon as she was able, “I don’t know, I just do. They live for a thousand years; they were one of the first species to discover the Citadel and they’re so beautiful and elegant.” Shepard said with a small smile.

“Yeah, you also forgot hot as hell.” Ramirez states.

Shepard scoffs, “That’s just another word for beautiful.”

“Sure but, it’s also more accurate. Hell Shepard, I’m not even into women and I want to sleep with an asari. Which, last I checked, are an all-female species.”

“Are you always thinking about sex?” Shepard asks, knowing the answer already.

“Pretty much. One of us has to because it looks to me like you hardly ever think about it. When was the last time you got laid?” Ramirez asks.

Shepard hits Ramirez with her pillow, which only ends up with her laughing loudly. Shepard shakes her head, an amused smile on her lips, as her friend continues to laugh.

* * *

The shuttle shudders as it exits the artificial gravity field of the Alliance carrier and flies into the vacuum of space above the Saturn moon, Titan. The drill sergeant, Gunnery Chief Ellison stands in the small doorway separating the cockpit from the cargo bay. He looks over the still relatively green cadets sitting or standing in the cargo bay. He watches them shift in place as the shuttle takes them down to the surface of the moon, some of their armoured shoulders hit each other causing scattered clacks to sound about the otherwise silent space. His eyes find the Shepard kid, standing next to another cadet, Ramirez, her helmet tucked under one arm while the other holds onto a rail above her head.

He goes through her progress during training in his head. She was the top of her class in everything, but humble about it. She worked well on her own but also demonstrated the ability to be a good team player. She never let the fact that she was the best cadet go to her head, taking the time to help her fellow cadets in her free time. She was driven, stubborn and an excellent soldier suited to both following orders and perhaps even giving them. The upcoming drills on Titan would confirm or deny his and the other instructors’ theories on Shepard’s ability to lead. If confirmed, they were instructed to recommend Shepard to the Alliance Brass for further training in the ICT, or N7 program as it was most commonly known.

The shuttle touched down on the surface of Titan with barely a jolt. “All right cadets, move out and form up with the rest of the cadets outside the shuttle! Move!” Ellison yelled, slamming the button to open the cargo bay doors.

The bay doors opened swiftly, revealing the yellow tinged surface, courtesy of reflected light from Saturn, of Titan and the walls of Fort Charles Upham in the near distance. The cadets file out in pairs before joining the other cadets lined up a few meters from their shuttle. Ellison jumps out of the shuttle and begins pacing in front of the cadets.

“All right cadets, for the next five days you’re going to be going through your Hostile Environment Assault Training or, as we like to call it, HEAT training! It will be tough, but we have faith that most of you will complete your training successfully. You’re nearing the end of your training, cadets! You make it through these drills, you make it through the remainder of you training with no worries!” Ellison shouts, pacing up and down the front row of the assembled cadets, hands behind his back.

“We’ll be splitting you all into small teams of four. Every day, starting tomorrow, one of you will be the squad leader. You will be expected to lead your squad through the day’s drill and complete it with maximum efficiency and competence! You will be observed and graded on your performances!” Ellison stands in place, his eyes passing over every cadet before him. Some he knows will do well and others will struggle but come out the other side better than what they came in.

“If you hear your name, step forward! Shepard, Ramirez, Gower and Salkeld!” Ellison shouts. The cadets called step forward. “You will be Luna squad. Gower, you will be squad leader tomorrow when drills begin. Salkeld, you’ll be second. Ramirez, you’re third. Shepard, you’ll be leading last. Now make your way to Fort Charles for more information on what you will be facing!” Ellison commands, “Next four names I call, step forward!” he continues.

Shepard, Ramirez, Gower and Salkeld hustle towards Fort Charles and hopefully, they all think, onto the next stage of their Alliance service.

* * *

“Shit! Take cover!” Ramirez shouts, diving behind a low wall seconds before bullets struck the space she’d been occupying.

“Gower, how many hostiles?” Shepard shouts, trying to peek over her own cover to see the enemy.

“I don’t know! Six? Seven? I can’t get a clear line of sight!” Gower shouts back, tapping furiously on his omni-tool to get a defence drone up.

“Ramirez! Can you see how many?” Shepard yells, trying to be heard over the gunfire.

“Some are hidden behind cover, but I think seven, straight ahead!” Ramirez yells, leaning out of cover for a few seconds to fire a few rounds from her rifle at the enemy. She hits one and takes a precious second to make sure they’re down. “Six, now!” Ramirez grins.

“Okay, Selkeld and I will see if we can flank them on either side. Gower and Ramirez, you’re going to keep their attention here. Signal on comms when you’re in position and we’ll attack together. Move out!” Shepard yells.

Shepard stayed low and slowly made her way around to flank the enemy. She heard Ramirez and Gower firing and calling out downed targets as they tried to keep the enemy’s attention off of their squad leader and Salkeld.

Shepard rounded a corner slowly and spotted the enemy combatants, which were just simple training mechs, oblivious to her presence. She pressed her comm twice to signal she was in position and waited for Salkeld to get into position before ordering the attack. She sighted down the scope of her assault rifle and picked her first target, making sure she stayed clear of their line of sight.

Some of the mechs not actively engaged with Ramirez and Gower turned away from her and faced the direction Salkeld was meant to come from, weapons raised. “Shit!” Shepard breathed, “Salkeld, watch yourself! They know you’re coming!” she hissed over comms, “The second you see them, open fire!” she commands.

“Copy.” Salkeld replies.

Shepard waits, body tense, for Salkeld to appear to begin firing on the mechs. She disregards her own order and opens fire on the mechs, effectively drawing their attention away from Salkeld and giving her time to get into position and hopefully take out a few mechs that Shepard distracted. Shepard takes down two mechs before they realise which side she’d come from. Salkeld rolls out from behind cover, guns blazing, taking the opportunity Shepard created for her.

“Enemy engaged!” Shepard yells over comms, sliding behind a small crate as her shields absorb a few shots. “Fire at will! Advance!” Shepard shouts.

Shepard peeks over her cover and picks off another mech. There was one mech left, focusing its fire on Ramirez and Gower. Shepard lined up her shot and pulled the trigger, tearing through the mechs shields and taking it down.

“Anyone picking up any additional hostiles on their scanners?” Shepard asks over comms. Shepard checks the combat scanner attached to her rifle, looking for the tell-tale blips indicating hostile targets. “I have negative hostiles in the immediate area. Gower, Selkeld, Ramirez? Status.” Shepard says.

“Negative contacts near me.” Ramirez responds.

“Same here.” Gower says.

“None near me either.” Selkeld replies. Shepard lowers her weapon and walks towards where she knows Ramirez and Gower would be, wanting to make sure they’re okay after taking a majority of the heat. As Shepard walks an alarm sounds around them.

“Good job Luna. Make your way to the exit, this drill is over.” Gunnery Chief Ellison says on the overhead intercom.

Shepard remains in place and waits for the rest of her team so that could make their way to the exit together. She visually looks over Gower and Ramirez and is pleased when she sees that they’re both uninjured. As the cadets walk, the sound of mechs resetting and getting back into position echoes throughout the large room. Gower trips over a mech as it starts getting up, but catches himself before he falls to the ground. The mech ignores him and picks up the weapon it dropped. Gower looks at the mechs getting back to their feet with a contemplative expression.

“Does it ever bother any of you that at any point during the drill, they can just get back up and shoot at your back?” he asks.

Shepard turns to look over her shoulder at the resetting mechs and then looks at Gower. “That’s why you always watch your back. Just because we’re still training, doesn’t mean the chief is going to make this easy on us.” She says, raising her rifle.

Gower ducks as Shepard pulls the trigger, effectively taking down a mech that had finished resetting and began to raise its weapon to fire on the otherwise off-guard and unaware cadets. Shepard smiles beneath her helmet as her shot hits the mech dead centre of where its forehead would be. “Case in point.” She says, lowering her rifle and continuing the next few feet to the double doors leading out.

“How the hell? What is the Chief thinking? We could have been hurt! Or killed! This didn’t happen during any of the other drills!” Gower whisper-shouts behind her.

“Don’t complain and just be damn glad Shepard put that mech down before it got a shot off.” Ramirez says, clapping Gower on the shoulder and jogging to catch up with Shepard.

* * *

Gunnery Chief Ellison watches the cadets of Luna squad, along with a few other drill sergeants. The Shepard kid was good, cool under pressure and was proving to be a natural-born leader. He could feel the approval ripple across the room as she took down a mech after the drill had supposedly been stopped. He had wanted to see if the cadets still kept their guard up even when it seemed safe. Gower and Salkeld disappointed him, barely realising the mech had begun taking aim at them. Shepard and Ramirez, on the other hand, did not disappoint. Despite Ramirez being a split second slower than Shepard in getting a shot off, she had still raised her weapon. Murmurs of respect traveled throughout the room at Shepard’s swift reflexes and effective leadership skills.

It looked more and more likely that they’d be recommending Shepard for the N7 program. The more training she received, the better she would become as a soldier. They hadn’t even properly introduced the gene therapy treatments to the cadets’ bodies and Shepard was already proving to be an efficient soldier. With the gene therapy that was mandatory for every Alliance soldier, Shepard would become a soldier of unrivaled skill and the drill sergeants couldn’t wait to see that.

* * *

Shepard stands at attention next to her fellow cadets, soon-to-be her fellow soldiers, in the hall that they used to use to train in hand-to-hand combat. It had been filled with mobile grandstands that occupied one side of the massive room. A platform had been set up in front of the stands with a small podium occupying the middle.

Currently, Rear Admiral Neo Booker was speaking to the gathered families of the cadets. Shepard let her eyes roam across the crowd, searching for a familiar face. She spots her mother sitting in the crowd, dressed in her own dress blues. Shepard suppressed her smile when she saw how her mother stood out from the people surrounding her. Her mother’s face was projecting pride.

Staff Commander Hannah Shepard was smiling as she watched her daughter standing in line with the other cadets. Her daughter had grown and matured during the few months she’d been in training. Gone was the lanky girl that grew up running around space stations and starships. In her place stood a tall, strong and athletic soldier of the Alliance Military. She wasn’t at all surprised by her hair cut into a medium length bob. Jane had always disliked when her hair grew any longer than just below her shoulders.

A shout for the cadets to form up carried in the hall. It was followed by the echoing stomp of booted feet against polished concrete as the cadets obeyed the order of their superior officer. They organised themselves into perfectly straight rows and columns in preparation to take the oath all Alliance soldiers took before being officially recognised as such. The cadets face their superior officers and families, that stand as witnesses, as they swear to protect the Systems Alliance and its people from harm and serve with the duty and honour their station demands. Their voices fill the hall with a cacophony of sound that reverberate off the walls.

In her mind, once the full oath is completed, Shepard vows to also protect those that cannot protect themselves, be they human or alien.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, feedback is appreciated. Hope you enjoyed it!


	3. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snippets of Shepard during her service in the Alliance before the Skyllian Blitz.  
> This takes place between the years 2173 CE and 2176 CE (CE = Common Era)

**2173 CE**

Shepard drops down from the pull-up bar that was really just a bar in the unused area beneath the main cargo bay. It had only been two months since she’d completed basic training, but almost literally right after, she’d been recommended for the N7 program. Shepard enrolled in the N-school two days after being notified of her recommendation.

She spent her first months gaining her N1 designation. It was a long, grueling process but the designation of even N1 was well worth it. Her fellow soldiers treated her with an admiring respect because of her designation and the fact that she’d achieved it just a month after basic training. It usually took other soldiers a few years before they achieved their designation, if they achieved it.

Shepard got to the floor and began doing sit-ups, using a pipe attached to the wall that was low to the ground to anchor her feet. She was determined to get her full-body workout done before they touched down at her next posting. She’d been serving on an Alliance cruiser before now, but it had been decommissioned two weeks after she boarded. Now she was travelling with other soldiers she would be serving with, to the colony planet of Terra Nova where they’d all be shuttled to the cruiser that orbited the planet.

Shepard breathed out slowly and evenly as she went through her workout. The gene therapy that she’d undergone two weeks before completing her basic training had enhanced her strength, reflexes and her constitution, but those enhancements wouldn’t mean anything if she didn’t keep her body in peak condition. The doctors said that over time, other enhancements would reveal themselves, such as an increased rate of healing and higher pain tolerance. She figured that those enhancements would reveal themselves when she was in combat. She’d gone through combat sims, tough combat sims, during her time in the N-school, but hadn’t sustained any injury that was more severe than a scratch, they still hurt but, she realised, not as much as they should have.

“Hey. Shepard, right?” a voice said from behind her.

Shepard sat up and looked at the source of the voice. A man, he was maybe in his mid-twenties, stood a few feet from her. His dark eyes looked at her curiously. Shepard stood up, “Yes sir.” she said, grabbing the small water bottle balancing on a large pipe.

“We’ll be arriving in twenty minutes, so you might want to get all your personal’s together and change into your uniform.” the man said, turning and walking away without waiting for a response.

Shepard nodded, drinking from her water bottle. She had really hoped she’d have more time but it looked like she’d have to find a new place to work-out on the cruiser she was soon going to be serving on.

She heads to the crew’s quarters and makes sure any and all of her belongings she’d brought with her are still in the standard duffel bag every soldier was provided. She checks her uniform that hangs up beside the single cot she’d been sleeping on, making sure that it was still in good shape. She knew it would be, she’d barely worn it, but it never hurt to be sure.

“Damn Shepard! I feel like I should be working out more standing next to you.” Alex Lucas, a soldier she’d served with on the cruiser that’d been decommissioned, said with a laugh.

Shepard smiles and shakes her head, “You’re good, Lucas. If you got any bigger, your arms would pop.” She says, pulling her tank top over her head and stuffing it into her duffel bag. She’d clean it when she got a chance.

“I think I can grow a bit more.” Lucas says, flexing his arms and looking at them. Lucas was built like an ox and was big for a soldier. Shepard wondered if he had to get custom armour for his bulk. “Come on, Shepard. Let’s see who’s got the bigger guns.” Lucas smiles, moving to stand in front of the thin mirror next to Shepard’s bunk.

Shepard huffs a laugh and ignores him, trying to carry on looking over her belongings. Lucas continues to poke at Shepard, trying to get her to compare biceps with his. After a good few minutes of trying to ignore Lucas’ prodding, Shepard gives in to his annoying pleading. She stands next to Lucas, a few steps away from the mirror so they can both be visible in the reflection. Shepard looked at herself in the mirror and flexed her arms next to Lucas.

Idly, she examined her reflection, taking in every familiar detail. The scar that cut down her left eyebrow that she got while playing with colony children when she was a child and the scar on her chin from around the same time on the same colony world. Her eyes were a striking green, contrasting with her flame red hair. She had her mother and father both to thank for that. Her eyes travelled down her torso, across her broad shoulders that flowed into well-defined - not small, but definitely smaller than Lucas’ - arms that looked and were strong. She looked at her flat, muscle-defined stomach that she’d worked hard to achieve and maintain with the strictly regulated meals that all Alliance soldiers got. Her legs, although hidden beneath a pair of loose track pants, she knew matched the rest of her toned and muscled body. She had no doubt in her mind that, even without the gene enhancements, she’d be able to carry someone with little to no effort on her part.

She looks back up and meets Lucas’s eyes in the mirror, he’s grinning. “I don’t know what you expected, Lucas. The proof is right there.” Shepard said, dropping her arms and prodding at Lucas’ still flexed biceps, “Just what I thought. Flex any harder and those balloons in your arms are going to pop. I can see the strain.” Shepard said in a serious tone, trying to keep the smile from her face.

Lucas drops his arms and gives Shepard an unamused look. “Haha, funny Shepard.” he says sarcastically.

Shepard grins and gives him a pat on the shoulder, “I try. Now, as much as I want to keep comparing biceps, I need to get into uniform. I doubt our new captain will appreciate me showing up to line-up in a sports bra and track pants.” Shepard says, turning her back on Lucas and pulling her uniform shirt off its hanger.

“Don’t let me stop you.” Lucas says, turning on his heel and walking out the crew quarters, “Next time though, you and I are trading work-out routines. I want to see how the great Shepard, N1 soldier, does when going through my routine.” he calls over his shoulder.

Shepard chuckles, pulling her shirt over her head and stripping off her track pants to slip into her uniform pants. She sits on the edge of her cot and pulls on her standard issue combat boots, leaving her shirt to button up and tuck into her pants until last. She laces up her boots before standing in front of the mirror to button her shirt and make sure that she tucks it neatly into her pants. She tucks her hair behind her ears, it being too short to tie up neatly and appraises herself in the mirror, making sure that she looks neat and tidy. It was always best to make the best first impression you could when being assigned to a new captain, you never knew if they were a by-the-book kind of person or not and Shepard, for one, wasn’t going to take the chance of getting on her new captain’s bad side, not right away at least.

* * *

Shepard has been serving on the SSV Shanghai for four months before she decided to approach her captain for permission to return to the N-school and earn her second designation. During her four months of service, the Shanghai has been involved in minor skirmishes against opportunistic pirates and mercenaries. A majority of the time, those skirmishes ended with the Shanghai disabling the pirates’ ships and taking the pirates on board into military custody to be judged in a trial on the Citadel. Shepard had been grateful that they didn’t have to be involved in groundside firefights, but her training to get her N1 designation may have ruined her expectations a bit and made her expect every day to have at least one firefight.

When she’d spoken to her mother about her thoughts, during the rare personal calls she was allowed, she’d told her to curb her enthusiasm and the itch she was feeling to be involved in a fight. Shepard has asked her how to do that but all she said was that as she continued to serve the hunger she felt would diminish. Shepard didn’t understand how the restlessness she felt after the Shanghai got into a skirmish that ended without the need for groundside troops or a boarding party would go away with time, but she trusted her mother and respected the experience she had with matters like this one. She’d definitely been witness to Hannah Shepard – be she ranked Staff Commander or lower – berate many an eager young soldier against rushing into the first fight they get a chance to sink their teeth into.

Shepard took a deep breath as she stood outside the door to her captain’s office. She raised her hand and rapped sharly on the door. She stood, at ease, and waited for a response.

After a short time, the door to the room opened. Shepard’s captain, Zara Cowick, stood in the doorway. She regarded Shepard standing in her doorway silently for a few seconds before gesturing with her head for Shepard to come inside. Shepard stepped into the room and the door hissed shut behind her.

Captain Cowick sighed heavily; heavy bags visible beneath her eyes. She stepped past Shepard and leaned against the big desk taking up space in the center of the room. Shepard walked up to the desk and stopped in front of the tired Captain.

“I have Alliance Brass up my ass about our latest run-in with pirates, asking questions about things already answered in the reports. Braxton and Osbourne are at each other’s throats because of a stupid prank and the longer serving officers and marines are chomping at the bit for a few day’s shore leave after nearly a year on-duty.” Captain Cowick sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger, “Now, I’m guessing, you want to ask permission to return to the Villa to get your next N7 designation, right?” she looks at Shepard, daring her to deny it.

Shepard clears her throat, “Yes ma’am, I do.” she says, keeping her eyes straight forward and her hands clasped behind her back.

Cowick releases another sigh and nods her head, “I can’t stop you from wanting to improve yourself. You’re a good soldier, Jane and I won’t deny the N7 the privilege of calling you one of their own, despite my personal feelings on the matter.” she pushes herself off the edge of the desk and wraps her arms around Shepard’s waist in a hug, resting her forehead on Shepard’s shoulder.

Shepard returns the hug, enveloping the exhausted woman with her arms. Shepard can’t remember when Zara began confiding in Shepard and being anything but professional in her conduct when interacting with Shepard in private. Shepard knew that Zara wanted more than a shoulder to lean on and an open, non-judgmental ear to vent her frustrations to, but Shepard also knew it was against regulation. Not to also mention the fact that if they were found out, Shepard would end up taking all the blame and, worst case scenario, possibly being discharged. She’d heard of other romantic relationships happening between officers and marines of a lower rank, but usually they’d met on shore leave and served on completely different ships in different fleets. No, Shepard wouldn’t jeopardize her own future in the Alliance, a future she’s wanted since she was a young girl, for a relationship that would not last. It did not mean, however, that Shepard would begrudge Zara the comfort she needed, as long as it remained platonic, Shepard would provide it.

“I thought we spoke about this. You know-” Shepard began, rubbing her hand up and down Zara’s back.

“I know that!” Zara snapped, interrupting Shepard. She extricated herself from Shepard’s arms and walked away from the infuriatingly good-looking and kind redhead. “I know, Jane. You’ve said why we can’t go further than this. But maybe I’ve come to appreciate you as just my friend and I don’t want to lose that to the possibility of you being posted to another ship?” Zara asked.

Shepard began to speak but shut her mouth quickly, deciding against what she was going to say. She chose instead to nod silently, considering her next words carefully. “I could ask to be reassigned here.” She suggested.

Zara shook her head, “No, with your second designation you’ll be considered for promotion and the Shanghai has no need for another 2nd Lieutenant.”

“You know that the designations and qualifications don’t guarantee promotions.” Shepard says.

“With the way your name travels around the higher-ups, even without the N-school training, you’d be moving up the ranks quickly. All I ask is that you keep in contact, whether through extranet email or FTL comms. You’ve become a good friend Shepard, I don’t like losing those.” Zara said with a small smile.

Shepard returned the smile, “I don’t think you actually know me at all, Captain.” she said, smile growing bigger, “Once I call you my friend, you’ll never be rid of me.”

Zara laughs, all tension gone from her body, “Is that the famous Shepard stubbornness I’ve heard about from the officers?”

Shepherds shrugs with a smile, “Seems so.”

“Well then, I’ll write up the paperwork approving your transfer back to the Villa for your next stage of training. But in exchange, you have to promise to me that you will keep in contact.” Zara said.

Shepard stepped forward and enveloped Zara in another hug, squeezing her firmly but not too tightly, “It’s a deal.” she said with a soft smile, and she meant it.

Never let it be known that Jane Shepard broke her promises.

* * *

**Mid-2173 CE - 2176 CE**

Over the course of the next two years, Shepard hopped between earning another N-qualification and serving on Alliance ships for active duty. She became one of the youngest marines to earn her N5 designation, being only twenty years old at the time. True to Zara’s predictions, once Shepard received her N2 qualification, she was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant. Her promotions kept coming and she rose swiftly up in rank. She earned the rank of 1st Lieutenant after achieving her N4 designation and then was promoted to Staff Lieutenant six months after achieving her N5 designation when she was serving on an Alliance cruiser. She served as Staff Lieutenant on the same cruiser for another year before the cruiser and crew were granted two month’s shore leave after patrolling the Skyllian Verge tirelessly for a significant amount of time.

* * *

**2176 CE**

The only available planet on which they were able to spend their shore leave was the old colony world of Elysium. There was the option of the planet Sidon, but it held nothing but a small research station and icy deserts. Not really a place a marine would like to kick-back and relax.

Shepard got up with the sun, her body conditioned to rise early regardless of whether she was on leave or not. She didn’t bother getting dressed as she walked around the small apartment she was renting for the two month’s long shore leave they’d been given. Shepard chose instead to walk around in the boxer shorts and tank top she’d slept in. She went through the familiar comfort of her typical morning workout, slipping into a pair of loose-fitting sweatpants, a light hoodie and running shoes before taking the opportunity to go for a run on what looked to be a fine morning.

She ran through the massive park the capital city of Illyria boasted, taking a short break at the edge of the man-made lake in the centre of the park. She leaned against the railing surrounding the deepest part of the lake and looked up at the sky. She had a good view of all the shuttles and ships going to and from the spaceport a few kilometres from the park. She watched the numerous ships ferry their unknown cargo and passengers for a half hour, relishing the calm of her surroundings as other people were walking past her, going about their days. She watched as a large Alliance frigate landed at the spaceport. Shepard guessed it was probably another ship crew being granted shore leave. She pushed herself off the railing, deciding that she’d had a long enough break and carried on with her run before the day got too hot.

She admired the scenery around her. Elysium was a beautiful planet, full of high mountains and deep valleys, Illyria being situated on one of the rare plateaus the colony world held. The high mountain peaks dusted with snow in the distance watched over the large city like immovable sentinels, a sharp juxtaposition to the ever-moving streets and airspace of Illyria. Shepard found it beautiful but it would never be as beautiful to her as the endless expanse of space.

Shepard ran with no discernible destination in mind, letting her feet and body take her where it willed. She wasn’t surprised when she found herself outside the spaceport, in the back of her mind she was curious as to who she might know on the recently arrived frigate.

She walked through the gates leading to the landing bays and pulled aside the first dock worker she saw. She was in the process of asking him if he knew the frigate’s name and the name of the ship’s commanding officer when she heard a familiar voice call her name. She let the dock worker continue with his work and turned to see who had called her name.

Shepard’s face split into a giant smile as she saw Ramirez walking quickly towards her, a bag thrown over her shoulder, in her uniform. She was waving frantically with a beaming smile on her face.

“I thought it was you! I’d recognise that red hair anywhere!” Ramirez said, dropping her duffel bag on the floor when she reached Shepard and enveloping her in a tight hug.

Shepard laughed and returned the hug with just as much enthusiasm, “And I’d know that voice anywhere.” she smiled, “Are you on shore leave?” she asked when they separated.

“Yup! You’re going to be seeing me every day for the next month and a half.” Ramirez says with a smile, picking up her duffel bag and slinging her arm around Shepard’s shoulder.

“Uh huh. And who says I want to see you every day?” Shepard asks with a smile of her own.

“Oh please, Shepard. You’ve missed this face, admit it!” Ramirez says.

“I might have, but seeing it now, I don’t know why I ever missed it in the first place.” Shepard couldn’t dodge out of the way of the shove from Ramirez and stumbled to the side with a laugh.

“I forgot how mean you can sometimes be. Now, where are you staying and is there enough room for me as well?” Ramirez asks, looking at Shepard expectantly.

Shepard gestures silently with her head for Ramirez to follow her and together they walk out of the gates of the spaceport.

The two friends use the time spent on their walk back to Shepard’s apartment to catch up on what they weren’t able to communicate over their infrequent mails and comm calls. Shepard learned that Ramirez had recently been promoted to 1st Lieutenant and had gotten her N3 designation the previous year and was planning to try and earn her N4 designation after her shore leave. Shepard told her of her promotion to Staff Lieutenant and her status as an N5 marine. Ramirez asked if Shepard had any tips to share on getting her N4 designation and Shepard just told her to keep being the soldier that earned her N3 designation.

Ramirez asked if Shepard had had any relationships or hook-ups while serving on the ships she’d been on and Shepard answered in the negative. She did tell Ramirez about Zara Cowick but made sure that Ramirez understood that it never went any further than hugs predominantly initiated by Zara herself. Ramirez teases Shepard for a few minutes but stops after Shepard gives her a look that tells her to drop it. Shepard learned that Ramirez had had a short-lived relationship with another marine on her second posting but ended up breaking it off when he began speaking about marriage and settling down when they were barely one month into their relationship. Shepard cringed when Ramirez told her about said marine and how it looked like he was itching to propose if the relationship progressed past two months.

“I know that I can sometimes move things along quickly, but I don’t like doing that in my relationships. Like give me a bit of time.” Ramirez laughed.

Shepard smiled and held the door to her apartment complex open for Ramirez, she didn’t reply.

“I hope the apartment looks as nice as the front entrance.” Ramirez said with a smile.

“I don’t think it will stay nice for long now that you’re staying with me.” Shepard said with a cheeky smile.

“Piss off! I’ve gotten better.” Ramirez laughed.

“Uh huh. We’ll just have to see.” Shepard said, pressing the button to call the elevator and leaning against the wall beside it.

“I’ll behave, I promise.” Ramirez said, stepping into the elevator when it came and waiting for Shepard to press the button for the correct floor.

Shepard opened the door to her apartment after they’d gotten off the elevator and gestured widely with her arm for Ramirez to make herself at home. Ramirez dropped her duffel bag by the couch in the living room and looked around the barely decorated room. She whistled and looked at the view of the mountains of Elysium from the living room window. Shepard grabbed two beers from her fridge.

“Beer?” Shepard asked, holding the beer up.

“Yes please!” Ramirez answered, catching the beer when Shepard tossed it at her.

“This is a nice place you have here, Shepard.” Ramirez mused, opening her beer and taking a sip.

“Thanks. My room is the one at the end of the hall, there’s a spare just next to it, you can have that one.” Shepard says, plopping down on her couch and drinking her own beer.

Ramirez joins her on the couch, “Thanks, Shepard.” She says with a genuine smile.

Shepard returns the smile, “To friends.” She says, raising her beer up in a toast.

“To friends and getting you a lady tonight!” Ramirez says with a big smile, holding up her own beer.

“What?” Shepard asks.

Ramirez laughs in reply and doesn’t elaborate further.

* * *

For the next three weeks, Ramirez dragged Shepard to every club in Elysium. They ended up alternating between the same decent two after they found out the rest were just small bars where colonists gathered for one drink before going home.

Ramirez was adamant in trying to get Shepard laid. Shepard humoured her the first few times before admitting to Ramirez that the women she pointed Shepard out to weren’t at all her type. Ramirez had huffed and instead asked Shepard to tell her what her ideal woman would be. Shepard had told her which women she thought were beautiful at the clubs they were at and Ramirez wasted no time in walking up to the women Shepard had indicated and pointing Shepard out to them. Shepard had to stop herself from rolling her eyes at the forwardness Ramirez demonstrated and had to remind her that she was fully capable of talking to those women herself.

“Well, why haven’t you spoken to them?” Ramirez asks, giving Shepard a pointed look.

Shepard laughs, not unkindly, “Because we’re not two steps inside and you’re already dragging every available woman over to me.”

“Yeah, well… Okay, I see your point. Fine, tomorrow night we’re going out again. I’m going to speak to that hot guy we saw the other day and you’re going to speak to a beautiful woman and finally get yourself laid! Deal?” Ramirez says, downing a shot.

“Deal.” Shepard says, downing her own shot and letting Ramirez drag her to the dance floor, even though she knew that Shepard was a terrible dancer.

The next night Ramirez, true to her word, left Shepard to go and speak to the guy she’d had her eye on for the last few weeks. Shepard spoke to and bought a drink for a gorgeous woman she spied across the bar and they spoke long into the night. If they happened to fall into bed together at the end of the night, was none of Ramirez’s business. Shepard was never one able to keep a secret from a friend though and Ramirez ended up squeezing the truth out of her.

* * *

During the fourth week, nearing the end of Ramirez’s allotted shore leave, they decided to go to the park and go through Shepard’s rigorous morning workout there. They were halfway through the workout and Ramirez, although as fit as Shepard, was huffing and lying face first on the soft grass while Shepard continued to plank next to her.

“Come on, Ramirez. Just two more minutes and we’ll take a break.” Shepard said with a smile.

“No, fuck you and your washboard abs and your infinite stamina.” Ramirez grumbles into the grass.

Shepard laughs, leaning back on her heels and prodding Ramirez in the back with her finger. “This is why I didn’t drink as much as you did last night. You’re still hung over.”

Ramirez turns her head to face Shepard and gives her the best impression of a puppy that she can muster, “Yes, I am. I thought you’d take it easy on me.” She groans.

“You should know me better than that by now, Ramirez.” Shepard smiles, “But, I’ll be nice and not make you do the rest of the workout with me.”

“How generous of you.” Ramirez deadpans, returning to having her face shoved into the grass, “I’m just going to rest here.” She mutters into the grass.

Shepard chuckles and gets to her feet, stretching her arms out and rolling her head around in a circle to loosen the muscles in her neck. Striding over to a sturdy-looking tree, Shepard was about to grab a thick branch and begin doing pull-ups when a huge explosion wracked the city.

Ramirez was up in a flash and looking towards the sound of the explosion. Shepard had also turned and faced the source of the explosion in a split second. They both watched in horror as a ship entered the airspace above Illyria and fired at the spaceport, causing another explosion as the ship more than likely fired on the docked Alliance ships. The two Alliance soldiers didn’t wait for the second explosion to end before running for the spaceport. They and other Alliance soldiers ran towards the center of the city and the spaceport as civilians ran away from the danger, screaming in terror. They had no weapons and no armour, but that wouldn’t stop them from doing their job and keeping people safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Skyllian Blitz has begun!!  
> Two more chapters to go and then we'll be all caught up and ready to begin with the storyline of the first Mass Effect game! I've BEEN waiting to get there!


	4. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Skyllian Blitz begins

**2176 CE**

**The Skyllian Blitz, Elysium**

They ran through the streets of the panicking city. Civilians ran past them, screaming as they scrambled to get away from the danger. Shepard and Ramirez heard gunshots echo off the surrounding buildings, coming from deeper in the city, and increased their speed. A few brave civilians had joined the few Alliance marines and were also running towards the sound of gunfire, carrying simple pistols. Shepard stopped one of these civilians, he was just a teenager. He struggled against her strong grip.

“Give me your gun!” Shepard commanded, hand tight around the teenager’s bicep.

“No! It’s mine! I’m going to protect my home!” he yelled, trying to wrench himself from Shepard’s grasp with no success.

“I’m a marine, I’ve trained for this and done this many times before. If you want to protect your home, you’ll find somewhere to hide and live long enough to enlist in the Alliance and stop this from happening on other worlds too. Give me your gun and find somewhere to hide. NOW!” Shepard said, holding her other hand out for the gun.

The teenager hesitated, his eyes flicking between the direction of the spaceport and Shepard. After a few seconds, which felt like a millennia, he sighed and gave Shepard his pistol. Shepard took it and let the teenager go. She nodded her head to him and threw him a look that told him to obey her orders. He took off in the direction Shepard and Ramirez had been running from. Shepard checked the pistol and scanned the surrounding area for Ramirez. She was standing a few paces away with her own pistol that Shepard could only assume she commandeered from another civilian. They both nodded at each other and kept running towards the danger.

Shepard and Ramirez’s gazes were pulled up as the low roar of a number of ships entering the airspace above the city shook the buildings around them. They pushed harder and eventually found themselves reaching their first blockade. Every person manning the blockade was an armed civilian. They looked forwards, towards where all the gunfire came from, shifting uneasily. Shepard and Ramirez approached carefully but swiftly, not wanting to spook the tense civilians.

“What’s the situation?” Shepard asked the nearest person, taking charge immediately.

The woman looked at Shepard and shook her head, “I don’t know. We were told that if there was ever an attack we must guard this line.” She said, voice unsteady, body a bundle of nerves.

“Alright. I’m Lieutenant Jane Shepard. You will keep holding this line. You’re Elysium’s last line of defence. Can I count on you all to guard this with your life if you have to?” Shepard asked, standing tall and projecting a commanding air.

The woman stood up straighter, “Yes! I mean, yes ma’am. You can count on us, this is our home and we will defend it!” she said.

“Copy that soldier.” Shepard said with a smile, “Ramirez, let’s keep moving.” She said, jumping over the barricade most of the civilians were huddled behind.

“Aye, aye.” Ramirez said, following Shepard rapidly.

They made their way quickly to the front, where a majority of the fighting was happening. They passed three other blockades on their way and asked if any of the civilians and the one or two Alliance soldiers knew what was happening. The first two blockades were still far enough from the front that all they knew was that something was threatening the city. They learned more about what was happening at the third blockade but it was still almost nothing. The closer they got to the front, the more they could see of the battle taking place in the air above. There were a few Alliance frigates flying through the air above Illyria, chasing the hostile ships and firing at them. They were outnumbered four-to-one, but the superior firing power and speed of the Alliance ships balanced the odds and tipped them slightly in their favour. Shepard and Ramirez watched as an Alliance frigate shot down an enemy ship, leaving it to crash at the outskirts of the city. The impact of the crash sent shockwaves through the ground that Shepard and Ramirez felt through their feet as they ran, making them stumble slightly.

The crack of gunfire was getting louder the longer they ran. Shepard and Ramirez rounded a corner and into the thick of the fighting. They scrambled and dove for cover as bullets whizzed over their heads. Shepard dove into cover next to a civilian and an Alliance soldier who was in nothing but a pair of backwards shorts and socks.

“Staff Lieutenant Shepard. What’s going on here?” Shepard asked the Alliance soldier.

“Good to see you, ma’am. They deployed ground teams after the second explosion. As far as we know, they destroyed both Alliance ships and a few cargo ships that were docked in the bays. Shit!” the marine swore as a bullet caught the civilian next to him in the head. He fired back a few rounds with Shepard before they both took cover again.

“They seem to be batarian pirates, ma’am. We’ve been holding them off for as long as we could but we lost the first and second blockades before we could get organised and we’re close to losing this one. They have stronger fire power on the ground and our ships are too busy in the sky to provide support. I don’t know how long we can hold out here ma’am with only pistols and a few assault rifles.” The soldier shouted, struggling to be heard over the rumble of ships above and the gunfire ringing out around them.

“You’ve done well so far. Is there a plan to push them back?” Shepard asks, popping out of cover to fire off a few shots at the batarian pirates.

“Not that I know of ma’am. We’re just trying to hold the line at the moment.” The soldier says, firing off a few shots of his own.

Shepard nods, “Understood, let’s continue with that plan and push forward at the first opportunity and hope for reinforcements.” She says.

“Aye aye, ma’am!” the soldier says.

Shepard spares one last look at the dead civilian next to the soldier before ducking out of her cover. She makes a break for more cover closer to the pirates. A bullet whizzes past her head and Shepard ducks instinctually. “Shit!” she swears, diving for the nearest cover. She peaks her head out of cover and ducks back down as a hail of bullets hit the barricade she was crouched behind. She looks behind her, trying to find any adepts, vanguards or any biotic user nearby. She spots a warp being thrown at a batarian and narrows her search to that area. She spots the biotic as they throw another warp and duck behind cover again.

“Ramirez!” she shouts, trying to find her friend.

“Here, Shepard!” Ramirez shouts, sliding into cover beside her. She breaks cover quickly to fire off a few wild shots that don’t hit anything before ducking back down as another burst of bullets whizzes over them.

“I need you to cover me. There’s a biotic back there and I need them to put up a barrier long enough for us to retreat, we can’t hold here anymore, we’re too exposed!” Shepard says, ducking in and out of cover to fire off a few shots, grinning when one of her shots hit a batarian in the head.

“Okay, I’ll pass the message along. Go! I’ll make sure as many of us cover you.” Ramirez shouts, throwing Shepard a feral grin.

Shepard throws her own grin back at Ramirez and rushes out of cover, sprinting in the direction of the biotic. Ramirez yells for covering fire for Shepard. She fires a few shots blindly behind her as Ramirez and a few other soldiers cover her by letting loose a slew of bullet fire on the enemy batarians. She stumbles as a bullet grazes the back of her leg. She dives for the cover that the biotic was hiding behind. Shepard fired off a few shots next to the biotic which she finally saw was a man in his mid-40s. The biotic let loose another warp, catching a charging batarian in the chest and tossing him into the air and into a crumbled piece of wall. Shepard heard the crack of the batarian’s neck from where she was standing and winced.

“I’m Staff Lieutenant Shepard. I need you to make a barrier so that I can order everyone to retreat to the next barricade.” She shouts, firing at advancing batarians and earning another graze from a bullet on her upper arm. “Shit!” she swears.

“Captain Mason, retired. I can do it, but I won’t be able to hold it for long, they’ll have to move their asses.” Mason says, throwing another warp at the batarians.

“Understood, be ready when I say the word.” Shepard says with a smile. She rolls out from cover, pistol up before she’s even steady and firing at the batarians. She hits a few but a majority of her shots are absorbed by the batarian’s shields.

Shepard looks briefly back at Mason and nods her head. Mason takes the signal for what it is and throws up a barrier around a majority of the fighting marines and civilians. The batarians increase the ferocity of their firing and advance on the protected humans.

“Everyone fall back! Get to the next blockade! _MOVE IT!_ COME ON!” Shepard orders to the confused fighters.

The Alliance marines scramble to follow Shepard’s orders and begin to run in the direction of the blockade behind them. The civilians take a few seconds, which waste precious time. Shepard grabs the nearest hesitating civilian and hoists him up by the collar of his shirt, “Did you not hear me? MOVE! NOW!” She shouts, shoving the civilian in the direction that the other Alliance soldiers were running. The civilian stumbles and falls but scrabbles to his feet and finally begins running. Ramirez stands next to Shepard and they both watch a majority of the soldiers and civilians retreat.

“I can’t hold this for much longer, Lieutenant. GO!” Mason shouts, bending under the strain of holding up a large barrier for longer than he’s used to.

“Drop it and we’ll run together.” Shepard says, placing a hand on Mason’s shoulder.

Mason gives Shepard a wry smile, “We won’t make it. Go Lieutenant, that’s an order!” he says.

Shepard grits her teeth but follows the retired captain’s orders. She and Ramirez begin running in the direction of the blockade as biotics begin to swirl around them. When Shepard and Ramirez reach decent cover, Shepard chances a look back and can see Mason gathering all his biotic ability around him. “Oh shit! Run!” Ramirez shouts, knowing what’s coming. She grabs Shepard’s arm and pulls her with her as they both sprint away from Mason about to let loose the biggest biotic flare Shepard had probably ever seen. Shepard glimpses the batarians coming to the same realisation as they too stumble to get away from Mason as others begin emptying out their heat clips in an attempt to shoot Mason down before he can let loose.

Shepard and Ramirez don’t get all the way out of the range of the flare and are hit by the edges of it as they’re running. The sheer force of it lifts them off their feet and flings them forwards. Shepard hits the ground, wrenching her shoulder as she tried to land safely. She can feel the scrapes, cuts and bruises she got when she tumbled to the ground. She lies on the ground, stunned, her ears ringing. She feels a hand on her face, slapping it. She blinks the blurriness from her vision and looks up at Ramirez bending over her and shouting.

“Get the _fuck_ up, Shepard!” Ramirez shouts, looking hurriedly over her shoulder to something behind her.

Shepard groggily sits up and shakes the remaining dizziness from her brain. “God, remind me to never get on the bad side of a biotic.” She groans, getting to her feet.

“Only you could make a joke in a time like this.” Ramirez laughs, handing Shepard her pistol and slapping her on the back, causing Shepard to grunt in pain as she hits a particularly nasty bruise.

“Come on, let’s go before they regroup and we’re fucked.” Shepard says.

“That’s what I’ve been shouting. Use your ears, Shepard.” Ramirez says with a smile.

They dash for the next blockade. They don’t run unimpeded for long. Bullets fly past them as the batarians had regrouped and were in fierce pursuit of the fleeing humans. Ramirez and Shepard ducked and dived and dodged as the bullets sometimes came uncomfortably close to hitting them. After what felt like hours running – it was only a few minutes – they were finally able to see the blockade. The Alliance soldiers and civilians had their weapons pointed towards them when they saw them running towards them and began firing on the batarians chasing them when they were in range. Diving behind the barriers of the blockade when they reached it, Ramirez and Shepard joined the marines and civilians in firing on the advancing batarians.

The assault on Elysium went on for several hours. They ended up having to repeat the cycle of falling back and holding the line for as long as possible before it became obvious that it wasn’t working. They lost a fair amount of soliders and civilians. Shepard was hit in the shoulder by one of the batarians and was nursing a large cut on her side from being thrown into a sharp piece of rubble from the shockwave caused by a batarian ship crashing nearby. Ramirez herself had sustained a few injuries and was trying her best to shoot using her left hand after being hit in the arm a few times by the batarians. Shepard didn’t know how much longer they could hold out and she hoped reinforcements would arrive soon. They were running for the last blockade, praying that reinforcements arrived before they lost that blockade too.

Ramirez cries out beside Shepard as they’re running and falls to the ground. Shepard skids to a stop and looks at Ramirez and then back up at the advancing batarians. Ramirez had been hit, but Shepard can’t see where yet. She bends down and slings Ramirez’s arm over her shoulder before hoisting her injured friend over her shoulders in a fireman’s carry and keeps running for the blockade. Her shoulders and cut side scream at her as she carries Ramirez, but she pushes through the pain and only sets Ramirez down when they’re safely behind a barrier.

Shepard kneels down and looks Ramirez over. “Where were you hit?” Shepard asks.

Ramirez hisses in pain as she moves to show Shepard the rapidly spreading spot of blood on her back.

Shepard’s eyes widen at the sight and she quickly places her hands on the gunshot wound and applies pressure. “Medic! I need a medic or medi-gel over here now!” Shepard shouts, looking around for anyone that could help her.

“Shepard, stop.” Ramirez croaks out, placing a bloody hand on her friend’s leg.

“No, shut up! You’re not dying. MEDIC!” Shepard yells even louder. No one seems to hear her or if they did, no one seems to have what she needs.

“Shepard.” Ramirez hisses, weakly squeezing Shepard’s leg.

“No, you’ll get through this.” Shepard says.

“Shepard, stop.” Ramirez says, her grip on Shepard’s leg growing weaker.

“No, I’m not going to let you die! You’re my best friend!” Shepard yells, pressing harder on the rapidly gushing wound.

“Dammit Shepard, STOP!” Ramirez shouts, glaring at Shepard.

Shepard shuts up and looks at her friend.

“It won’t help. It hit something important, I can feel it. Even if you get a medic, they won’t be able to stop the bleeding inside.” Ramirez rasps, “Just do me a favour, will you? Don’t stop fighting and give them hell. Get them off of Elysium and save everyone else.”

Shepard hangs and shakes her head, “I’ll do it if you promise me, you’ll hold out for as long as possible.” Shepard says, feeling the tears pricking at her eyes and the sobs at the back of her throat.

Ramirez gives Shepard a bloody smile, “Always with the compromises. But I promise I’ll try. Now go! They need you.”

Shepard gives her own smile. She looks up and calls over the first civilian she sees. She makes them kneel down beside Ramirez and places their hands over the wound. “Press as hard as you can and don’t move. I mean it!” Shepard commands, picking up her pistol and vaulting over the barrier.

The batarians are closing in on the blockade. They’re losing ground faster than they can defend it. Shepard watches as another civilian and solider are gunned down in front of her. The batarian’s laughter rings across the space between them and her and Shepard sees red. They’re treating the attack and the meaningless deaths of innocents as a joke!

They’ve almost broken through the line of defence Shepard had tasked the marines to set up. They have nowhere left to go besides the building Shepard deemed defensible. They had no choice but to fall back and make their last stand in the small confines of the building. Shepard didn’t like their odds, but low odds were better than no odds in her opinion.

“Fall back! Into the building! GO!” She shouted, vaulting back over the barrier and picking Ramirez up, causing Ramirez to grunt in pain. Shepard let loose a silent sigh of relief in her mind.

She ran inside with everyone else and gently placed Ramirez down, getting the same civilian to keep holding pressure on the wound. She left and began helping to reinforce the entrance to the building. Once Shepard was satisfied with the way the entrance was looking, she ordered everyone to fall back further into the building and to keep the injured and remaining civilians among them safe.

Shepard stayed behind to double check the defences, which is why she was blown back by the force of a grenade going off on the other side of the meagre barricade they had constructed. She hit her head on a wall and heard something crack as she impacted the wall. Shepard was stunned for a few seconds, her vision swimming. She watched as figures began to materialise through the smoke and dust from the explosion. Shepard got to her feet unsteadily and forced her vision to stabilise and her head to stop spinning.

She scooped her dropped pistol from the ground and began shooting the figures coming through the smoke. She charged forward and tackled the first figure that made it through the smoke, shooting the batarian in the head and taking his assault rifle. She ejected the heat clip, inserting another one and began firing on the batarians that were preparing to storm the building en-masse.

Shepard doesn’t remember how long she held off the batarians for but closed the breach in the building’s defence the second it became possible. She had sustained heavy injuries during the fight. Blood was pouring from a gunshot wound in her side. She’d let a batarian get too close and he’d managed to grab her, resulting in her breaking her arm in order to get free. A wounded batarian crawling on the ground had stabbed her in the leg with his omni-blade and blood was also leaking out of that injury. Shrapnel had cut across her upper lip, leaving a nasty gash that Shepard was sure would leave a scar. She spat the blood from the cut on her lip out and began to limp back to the rest of the civilians and marines. She stopped walking when the sound of more ships entering the atmosphere made the building shake.

Shepard sighed and braced herself for enemy reinforcements. She walked up to the barricade she constructed and peered through a small hole. She couldn’t see anything but didn’t trust the hope that the batarians had retreated. She held her assault rifle up, bracing it against her body to stabilise it because she’d lost the use of her arm, and waited.

Shepard waited a while before she heard movement outside the barricade. She brought her gun, which she had let fall to her side, back up and pointed it at the barricade. She heard voices, but she couldn’t make out what they were saying through the ringing in her ears. She gritted her teeth against the pain coursing through her body and placed her finger on the trigger as they began taking the barricade down piece by piece. The second she caught a glimpse of a body, she fired, emptying the last rounds of her heat clip. Shepard would be thankful afterwards that it took a few more hits to a shield for it to fall. She let out a sigh of relief as the Alliance marine she shot took a second to look at her before firing back.

“In here!” the marine shouted.

“Took you… long enough.” Shepard hissed out, spitting out another gob of blood to the floor.

Another Alliance marine, this time one with a medic cross on their armour, rushed forward and began looking Shepard over. Shepard weakly tried to stop the medic but stopped after the medic pressed on one of her wounds and she cried out in pain.

“There’s more inside. Lieutenant Ramirez, she was hit badly. Send another medic to help her.” Shepard panted out. Black spots danced across her vision as the medic in front of her began the process of setting the broken bone in her arm.

“We’ve sent more medics inside. What’s your name soldier?” the medic asked, taking out a tube of medi-gel and applying it to the worst of Shepard’s wounds.

“Staff Lieutenant Jane Shepard. I was on shore leave with the rest of the crew of the SSV London when the attack began.” She breathed out.

“Nice to meet you Lieutenant. I’m going to get a stretcher and we’re going to get you out of here.” The medic says.

Shepard grabs the medic’s arm and stops him from leaving, “Ramirez, do you know if she’s okay?” she asked.

The medic looked up and towards where the other medics had gone and shook his head, “I’m sorry, I don’t. Now I need to get you into a med-evac asap.” He said, running out of the open door.

That was the last thing Shepard saw before she passed out from the pain and exhaustion. In the back of her mind she hoped that Ramirez was okay. She’d already seen enough death today, she doesn’t think she would be able to see another person die on her watch, especially a friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was difficult to write, because I don't really enjoy writing fighting scenes a lot but I have to say I'm proud of how it turned out. As usual, feedback is appreciated! I hope you all enjoyed. We have one more chapter to go.


	5. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snippets of Shepard's time after the Skyllian Blitz, how she got her N7 designation and serving on the SSV Tokyo under Anderson before the events of ME1 begin.

Shepard wakes up in a room she doesn’t recognise, connected to a host of beeping machines. The walls are stark white and hurt her eyes when the afternoon light from outside bounces off of them. She tries to sit up and winces as she jostles her, still healing, broken arm. Her mind is fogged with pain killers and her mouth feels like it’s filled with cotton wool. She blinks the bleariness from her eyes and looks around the room properly. The one side, near the window, is filled with flowers from a host of different planets, balloons and cards of various shapes and sizes. Looking around her surroundings, Shepard gathers that she’s in a hospital, but she cannot say for certain which one, the view outside her room giving nothing away.

The pneumatic hiss of a door sliding open, signals the arrival of someone in her room. Shepard turns her head towards the sound and sees a doctor walk in, holding a datapad. Seeing Shepard looking at her, her face breaks into a smile.

“Good afternoon, Lieutenant. I’m Doctor Catherine Ashe. I’m glad to see you awake. How are you feeling?” Doctor Ashe asks, checking her datapad.

“Not as bad as I was.. Is there any water?” Shepard says with a wry smile, her voice hoarse from how dry her throat and mouth was.

“I’m glad to hear it’s not as bad. Here.” the doctor says, picking up a glass from the table beside Shepard’s bed that she didn’t see and handing it to Shepard.

Shepard took it and drank greedily from the straw, sighing as the cool water hydrated her dry mouth and throat, “Thank you.” She says.

“It’s a pleasure.” Doctor Ashe asks, taking the glass from Shepard and putting it back on the table.

“How long was I out? Where are we?” Shepard asks.

“A few days, we had to take you into surgery to remove the bullet from your stomach and stitch you up. You’re at Rosewood Memorial Hospital. You’re very lucky, Lieutenant, a few inches to the left and it would have hit a vital organ.” Doctor Ashe replies.

“Are we still on Elysium? Do you know if a Lieutenant Talia Ramirez made it?” Shepard asks.

“Yes, we’re still on Elysium.” Doctor Ashe checks her datapad, “I don’t know about a Lieutenant Talia Ramirez. I don’t have her on record, but it’s possible she was taken to one of the other hospitals. I can make a few calls for you, if you’d like?”

“Please, she was badly hurt but still alive when last I saw her.” Shepard says.

“I’ll see what I can do. I’ll let you rest now.” She handed Shepard a small remote, “Press this button if you need any assistance and these ones control the bed to help you sit up and lie down.” She indicates to the respective buttons, “And thank you, for what you did Lieutenant. What you did that day is known by everyone on Elysium. You’re a hero.” The doctor concludes. Tucking her datapad close to her chest and nodding her head in thanks, Doctor Ashe walks out of the room, the door hissing shut behind her.

Shepard rests her head down on the comfortable pillows and lets the painkillers coursing through her body pull her into sleep. Her dreams plagued by nightmares of the batarian raid and failing to save people.

* * *

When next Shepard wakes up, it’s to her stomach growling at her. She pushes the button to call a nurse and asks if she could be brought some food. The nurse, a kindly-looking man, smiles and says he’ll be back in a few minutes with her food. Shepard uses that time to slowly make her way to the bathroom to relieve herself. The stiches in her leg and torso, where she was stabbed by the batarian and shot respectively, pulled as she shuffled her way across the room. She takes a minute to inspect all her wounds in the mirror. Her body is a mottled collection of bruises at various stages of healing, and blood-spotted gauze covering the stiches from the deeper wounds. Shepard ran her good hand gingerly over the gauze-covered wounds, wincing when she discovered that they were still tender.

The nurse returns with Shepard’s food as she’s shuffling back to her bed. She’s given a delicious smelling soup that is still steaming with a small roll of bread and a glass of fruit juice. Shepard tries to eat the soup slowly, but disregards the idea the second the soup hits her stomach and she realises just how hungry she is. She’s sure the inside of her mouth is burnt from the speed at which she ate the soup, but she can’t find it in herself to care. When the nurse returns to take the empty bowl and glass away Shepard asks him if he could stay and answer a few questions, which he agrees to.

“Has Doctor Ashe been able to find anything on Lieutenant Talia Ramirez?” Shepard asks.

“I’m not sure. I can ask her to come and tell you if she’s found anything.” The nurse replied.

“Thank you. How many days has it been since the attack?” Shepard asks, having been drifting in and out of consciousness because of the painkillers and not being able to tell one day from the next.

The nurse takes a moment to think, “It’s been almost two weeks, twelve days to be more specific.” He replies.

“Twelve days.” Shepard whispers to herself, “What happened in that time? Is there a datapad you could bring?” Shepard needs to know what happened after the attack, why the attack happened, if there was going to be any retaliation.

“I can do that for you. Is there anything else you need?” the nurse asks.

“No, unless you can somehow miraculously heal all of my wounds?” Shepard asks, giving a pleading look.

The nurse laughs, “If that were the case, then I would be doing that for all the patients. Take it easy, Lieutenant. I’ll be back with your datapad and Doctor Ashe.”

The nurse leaves with the empty bowl and glass without another word. He returns a few minutes later with a datapad and a promise that he’ll find Doctor Ashe and ask her to tell Shepard what she knows, leaving before Shepard can thank him for the datapad.

Shepard switches the datapad on and begins looking through every available news outlet to try and see what actually happened on that day. She finds out that the Alliance and the news are calling the attack the Skyllian Blitz and are attributing it to a vast group of pirates, slavers and batarian warlords. The reason for the attack was unknown at present but they are trying to extrapolate the reason amongst wild guesses and conspiracy theories. Shepard clenches her jaw when she sees the estimated number of dead combined with the number of missing Elysium colonists and Alliance soldiers. The number was to be expected, but Shepard didn’t like seeing it.

She was surprised when she came across an article with her name in the headline. She opened it and was greeted by a picture of herself in her dress blues, her gaze piercing through the camera. It recounts the events of the Blitz and her role in it. It says that she single-handedly fended off the attackers for hours and rallied the colonists and Alliance marines to fight against the enemy. They hyperbolise the entire attack and make it sound like Shepard faced off against a thousand enemies by herself. They make no mention of Ramirez in the article or her role in the defence against the attack. They call Shepard a hero.

She’s pulled out of her reading when the door hisses open and Doctor Ashe steps through with a neutral expression on her face. Shepard can already tell by looking in her eyes, which fail to hide her true grim feelings, that she won’t like the news she’s going to receive.

“Hello, Lieutenant. I’m afraid I have to be the bearer of sad news. I asked around and the Lieutenant Talia Ramirez you were looking for passed before the initial medics were able to get to her. Her injuries were too severe and she bled out internally.” Doctor Ashe says, using the trademark doctor voice and expression when they give bad news.

Shepard’s eyes water, but she blinks the tears back. “Thank you, for telling me.” She says, keeping her voice steady.

“I’m sorry for your loss.” Doctor Ashe says.

“She has- had no living family left. It means something that there’s someone to tell.” Shepard says with a sad smile.

“Of course. I’ll leave you now.” Doctor Ashe says, nodding her head and walking out of the room, “Please let us know if you need anything.” She says and lets the door slide shut behind her.

Once the door closes, Shepard lets the tears fall from her eyes and allows herself to cry for her friend. She curls in on herself, hugging her knees to her chest and shutting her eyes tightly. The tears streak hotly down her cheeks. She cries until her body can’t anymore and she falls asleep, exhausted.

* * *

Shepard spends the next month in hospital while the worst of her wounds heal with the doctors’ ever-present watchfulness. Random people leave her flowers and gifts of small stuffed animals as a way of saying thank you for her role in protecting Elysium. The captain of the ship she’d been serving on, before it got blown up by batarian ships, came to check on her and told her that he’s grateful she’s still alive and that it is an honour to call her one of the soldiers working under his command. He tells her to take it slow and take the time to rest and heal and that she’d always have a position to fill on his crew. When Shepard is discharged from the hospital, she’s whisked back to Earth.

She’s made to sit through a ceremony where the Alliance Brass speak about the attack on Elysium and praise all the brave men and women that sacrificed their lives to save the colonists. She’s wearing her dress blues and sitting on stage along with other marines and higher-ups. She looks over the crowd in front of her, making note of all the faces and their expressions. She spots Newham standing with the rest of the assembled marines. She can tell that he’s trying not to let his emotions show through his stoic façade, but spending most of her time with both him and Ramirez in basic, she can tell that under that façade is genuine sadness and grief.

She hears her name being mentioned in the speech being said by the speaker and focuses her attention on what he’s saying. He’s outlining her actions during the Blitz to the assembled crowd.

“Staff Lieutenant Shepard risked her own life to keep the people of Elysium safe. She rallied the colonists and the rest of her fellow marines, when there wasn’t any visible presence of an officer above her station, to protect themselves and the city of Illyria. Suffering heavy casualties and losses, Staff Lieutenant Shepard demonstrated admirable leadership skills and a quick, strategic mind. She ordered all remaining civilians and marines under her command to retreat to a defensible position. Aiding the marines in fortifying their final position, she stayed behind. She ordered the marines to return to the civilians and injured and protect them. She held and defended her position when the enemy forces broke through the rapidly built barricade her and the marines constructed using what resources they had. She repelled the enemy forces on her own until Alliance reinforcements arrived and were able to force them off of the planet. Staff Lieutenant Shepard suffered major injuries during her efforts. Despite these injuries, when Alliance medics arrived on the scene, she was insistent that they know about the injured located further behind her defending position.

“It is in light of these actions, the actions of an admirable soldier and a hero, that we would like to award Staff Lieutenant Shepard the Star of Terra. For going above and beyond the call of duty and for demonstrating to all of us, what a true hero looks like.” The speaker says, turning to Shepard.

Shepard, having been to other award ceremonies over the years, knows exactly what to do and stands up. She walks towards the speaker with her head held high and exudes the confidence and stature of the soldier she is and stands before him at attention. Her healing scars pull in response to her rigid stance and she has to smother the wince of discomfort begging to claw its way onto her face.

Shepard is surprised when the head of the Alliance military hands the box the Star of Terra rests in to her mother, who had been sitting with the other marines of her rank. Staff Commander Hannah Shepard takes the polished wooden box and walks up to her daughter, a smile on her face. She hands her an open, polished wood box. The Star of Terra sits neatly inside, pinned to a backing of soft, black velvet. Hannah Shepard removes the Star from the box and pins it to Shepard’s chest with a smile.

“I’m proud of you, Jane.” Hannah says, smile still on her face.

Shepard returns the smile with one of her own and salutes her mother and the Alliance head with a click of her heels and barely a wince as the scars on her torso pull even more.

The rest of the ceremony serves as a memorial to honour the fallen. Shepard hides her tears behind a stoic, yet sullen façade, but feels her heart sink when Ramirez’ name is called. The announcement of her as one of the fallen cements the fact that she’ll never see her friend again, and it hurts more than Shepard thought possible. She locks eyes with Newham and a silent agreement to share a drink in memory of Ramirez is passed between them.

Shepard watches the crowd in front of her, their openly grieving expressions a perfect mirror to the grief she feels in her own chest.

* * *

Shepard is allowed to return to active duty two months after the events of the Skyllian Blitz and is immediately given a posting on an Alliance cruiser when she mentions her desire to get her N6 and, hopefully, N7 ranking.

The cruiser she serves on sees plenty of combat, being stationed in an active conflict zone. Shepard gets plenty of opportunity to prove herself to the N7 officers aboard. She wants the coveted N7 designation, but she wants to earn it purely on her skills and not because she was awarded the Star of Terra.

When she was approached by one of the younger N7 officers and offered to be given the N7 designation based solely off of her actions on Elysium, she told him very politely where to stick his offer. The officer was appalled but when Shepard explained that she wanted to earn the designation like every other marine had, he understood. She can still see the want to just award her with the designation in their eyes, but she knows that despite her being lower ranked than them and having virtually no say in when they give her the designation, they’ll respect her wishes and make her go through hell like everyone else.

* * *

Shepard serves on the cruiser for six months before she and the other hopeful N7’s are piled into separate shuttles and flown to a nearby asteroid.

“Alright, here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to be given a set of this basic gear right here and we’ll be dropping you each off at separate locations. You’ll be given no nav data, no extra food, water or oxygen tanks. You will each need to survive on your own. When your tank has ten percent oxygen left, an alarm will go off. This alarm will be sent to the closest shuttle to your location and you’ll be extracted. Don’t worry about a shuttle not reaching you in time, we’ve done this before and we’ve only lost fifty percent of our people.” The N7 officer said, looking at Shepard.

Seeing the stop bullshitting me look on Shepard’s face, he continues, “That was a joke. Anyways, the shuttle will reach you in time, count on it. This test will end once the last tank of oxygen has run out. Now, we expect you to be on the move. There will be no staying in one place and breathing steadily. We expect you to make your way towards a central point on the asteroid. You will be told which direction this point is when we drop you off, but it is up to you to make it there without running out of oxygen. Do you understand?”

Shepard voices her understanding as the shuttle touches down on the spot where she would be left. She puts on the basic gear they provide her with and waits for the N7 officer to signal to her when every other N7 candidate was in position and ready to deploy.

“When you exit the shuttle and face straight forward, you’ll be facing east exactly. The central point is south west of our current position. You’ll know it when you see it, it’s hard to miss. Try and reach it before your oxygen runs out. You will begin this test in three… two… one! Good luck!” the N7 officer says before pressing the button on her oxygen tank that allows the oxygen to begin flowing.

Shepard steps out of the shuttle, keeping her breaths even. She faces south west and begins walking towards the destination. She stops for a moment and looks at the vast expanse of stars above her. She wants to pick out a star so that she can remain on target, but decides to throw that idea away due to the almost imperceptible rotation of the asteroid. She looks ahead of her and picks a spot on the horizon that she can distinguish from everything else and use as her anchor point. She spots a weird looking extrusion from the asteroid’s surface, most likely from the impact of another asteroid, and makes a note in her mind to keep it in the exact same spot as she walks.

She checks her oxygen tank level, makes a note of the numbers and continues to move. Shepard measures time in her mind and checks her oxygen level at the half hour mark. Using the initial oxygen level and her current level, Shepard calculates how long it would take until she’s out of oxygen. According to her rough calculations, she has roughly another thirteen hours before her tank is completely empty.

Shepard looks at the stars as she walks, using the view to help keep her heartrate and oxygen intake down. She’s never truly felt more at peace than when looking up at the stars. She’d thought that being among the stars for most of her life she’d get annoyed with the vast nothingness of space. No matter how long she spends among the stars, she doesn’t believe she’ll ever get bored of just how beautiful and peaceful space is.

Her gaze is pulled towards the glint of light reflecting off of a shuttle coming down. Shepard guesses, using the remaining oxygen left in her tank and the time she estimated it would take to finish it, that it’s been roughly five hours since they began their test. She feels sorry for whoever it was, but knows that if they made it as far as they had in the N-school training then they’d be able to complete the test if they do it again. Shepard marks off one from the small list of marines participating in the test.

Shepard had been walking for just over seven hours when she lost sight of her anchor point. She picked another anchor point, in the same direction of her previous one and kept walking. She spotted another shuttle flying down to the surface of the asteroid, it was fairly close to where she was, and fly away. She didn’t know how many of them were left. She did the math in her head and she estimated she had another six hours left until her oxygen ran out. She didn’t know how much farther she had to go until she reached the central point, let alone what the officer meant when he said she’d know it when she saw it. She hoped she did know it when she saw it, whatever it was.

Shepard walked on for another four hours before she began to take slower, more measured breaths to try and push the remaining two hours of oxygen left to the absolute limit she could. She was determined to make it as far as she could manage and hopefully make it to the central point.

Shepard walked for another hour before she began to feel the oxygen struggle through her breather. She took even slower and shallower breaths when she looked at the gauge, seeing she had less than twenty percent oxygen left. It was going to be hard to keep her breaths even once she reached the rise a few meters ahead of her but she soldiered on, so to speak. She took the rise slow and steady, doing her best to keep even breaths despite her body screaming at her to take in more oxygen.

She went on for another half hour before she heard the alarm start to go off. Shepard cursed under her breath and pushed herself harder, adamant to make it a few more meters if she could.

 _‘Just over the rise! Just get over the rise!’_ Shepard thought to herself.

She looked up and saw the shuttle beginning to descend. She pushed herself harder, scrambling on all fours over the top of the rise. The alarm was screaming louder at her. She felt the rumble of the shuttle landing behind her. She gritted her teeth and pushed harder, climbing over the top of the rise.

She looked ahead of her at the view beyond the rise. She saw the weird extrusion she used as an anchor point earlier in the test in the far distance. A massive crater sits before her, the wreckage of a centuries old salarian ship rests in the center.

Shepard smiles to herself, _‘That’s what he meant.’_ She thinks. She lies on her back on the ground, taking shallow breaths to conserve the last amount of oxygen she has before the marines on the shuttle get to her. She looks up and is graced with the view of the stars above before they’re blocked by the helmeted head of an N7 soldier.

“Come on, Shepard. Breathe deeply now.” The marine above her says, connecting another oxygen tank to her breather.

Shepard breathes in greedily when fresh air fills her mask.

“There you go! Slowly, Shepard. Can you stand and walk on your own?” the marine asks, his eyes questioning through the small panel in his helmet. Shepard nods in reply, still breathing in deeply. “Great! Let’s get you back to the cruiser.” The marine says, clapping Shepard on the shoulder.

Shepard walks with the marines back to the shuttle. She turns around when she sees another shuttle fly past them and land on the other side of the crater. She looks back at the gathered marines, a question on her lips.

“That’s the last one. Test is over. Let’s head home.” One of the marines say, stepping into the shuttle.

Shepard looks back at the other shuttle once more before following the rest of the N7 marines into the shuttle. She sits on one of the seats and lets herself breathe normally, pleased with herself for getting as far as she did on one tank of oxygen. She watched the stars whizz by the small window in the shuttle’s door and smiled. She did it, she completed her N7 training. Now all that she had to do was attend her graduation and find out if she did well enough throughout the entirety of her N-school training, N1 to present, to be awarded the coveted N7 designation.

* * *

Shepard stands at attention with the other N-school graduates in one of the bigger halls on Arcturus station. They stand in perfectly straight lines as they all wait to hear what designation they’ll be getting, whether it would be N6 or N7. The graduation ceremony wasn’t big by any means, just a gathering of the N-school graduates and the higher ranked members of the N7. The speeches were short and soon they’re each called up by name and the designation they’ve been awarded.

“Staff Lieutenant Jane Shepard, N7.” The N7-ranked general calls.

Shepard stifles a smile and walks brusquely up to the small, raised stage. She accepts her designation with the honour and respect it demands. The general pins the N7 pin onto Shepard’s lapel and smiles at her.

“Welcome to the N7, Staff Lieutenant Shepard. We expect great things from you.” The general says to her, still smiling.

"Thank you, sir.” Shepard replies, saluting the general with a smile of her own. She walks off the stage and joins the rest of the graduated N7 marines.

The last few graduates are given their designations and stand in their respective places. N6’s on one side of the stage and N7’s on the other. The N7 group was, slightly, smaller than the N6 one. The general along with a few of the other high-ranked N7 officers stand in front of the assembled graduates.

“You all represent the best of what humanity has to offer. We expect great things from all from all of you and we expect you to serve with the honour, bravery, ferocity and dignity that your designations give you. You are now regarded as part of the best soldiers in the Alliance. We welcome you. May you serve the Systems Alliance well.” The general says, “Dismissed.” He adds with a smile as he leaves.

One of the N7’s step forward, “N7’s, if you would come with me so that we may get you each fitted for your new field and dress uniforms.” She says, not waiting to see if the recently graduated N7’s follow her.

They follow her quickly out of the room and spend the rest of the day getting measured and fitted for their new uniforms. Many remark on how it feels like they’re graduating from basic again and joke with each other. They each get their own unique set of armour fitted to their bodies perfectly according to each of their specialisations.

Shepard got fitted for her heavy armour and was surprised at just how light it was. The heavy armour that she usually wore was heavy and tended to slow her down and reduce her range of movement. The armour she was given now was deceptively light for how strong it was. She was happy to see just how much she could move in it and that she could actually bend over at the waist without having it dig into her. The armourer asked if she felt comfortable in the armour and felt as if she could perform her duties without worry of being impeded by the armour. Shepard expressed her satisfaction and joy at the armour’s fit on her body.

Shepard was excited to get the latest chapter of her Alliance service started and she couldn’t wait for what was to come.

* * *

Since becoming an N7, Shepard got her pick of Alliance ships to serve on. She was offered positions on many ships but it was a position on the SSV Tokyo, under the command of a Commander David Anderson, that she chooses. She serves diligently aboard the ship, gaining the respect of Commander Anderson and the rest of the crew and even their friendship.

She is promoted to the rank of Commander after serving of the Tokyo for a year and gets a red stripe emblazoned upon the right arm of her armour. She’s given the option to transfer off of the Tokyo to another ship, but Shepard decides to stay and continue serving under the command of Anderson. He’s one of the few commanders that she hasn’t clashed with in her entire military career and she admires the way he leads his crew.

Shepard serves alongside Anderson for the next five years before he’s promoted to Captain. The Alliance give him command of a new experimental stealth frigate co-developed by the Alliance and the Turian Hierarchy. When the newly promoted Captain Anderson asked her to be his XO, or executive officer, aboard the frigate – named the SSV Normandy – Shepard jumped at the chance. This was an opportunity for her to see turian work up close.

When she saw the ship, she immediately saw the turian influence in its design. The ship was beautiful and sleek. When looking at the drive core she was amazed at how something so big could fit into a ship of the Normandy’s size. She knew very little about how the inside of ships worked but she knew that the Normandy was an amazing feat of engineering.

When given their first mission aboard the Normandy, a covert pick-up of a recently uncovered Prothean Beacon from the colony of Eden Prime, with a turian spectre onboard to ensure that the Council’s investment in the joint human-turian project was worth it, Shepard couldn’t help but feel as if it was the start of something big. Something world-shaking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is virtually no information on how the N7 test takes place other than saying they're stranded on an asteroid with basic gear and told to survive. Also no info on the N7 graduation ceremony. So, seeing this I just made it all up as I went along. 
> 
> Hope you guys enjoyed this final chapter of the "Prologue". I'll be starting on the next fic, which follows the timeline and events of ME1 (with extra scenes and dialogue added by yours truly), as soon as I finish this fic... which is... finished... Alright, let's get to work!  
> I'm so excited to start with the main story!  
> Expect it to arrive... soon... ish?

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed this short little prologue.  
> Feedback is most appreciated but also please be aware that this is unbeta'd and any editing that's been done I've done myself and have more than likely left a few mistakes (if anyone spots any, please tell me!)


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